
In Response To: Charlottesville, White Supremacists, Terrorists, and All Things Hate
How do we get closer to peace? In a world of hate, anger, and bitterness, how do we as a species move closer to living in harmony with each other? With white supremacist rallies, neo nazi revival, terrorist groups, and an environment that encourages the existence of such detestable behavior, how can we possibly get even one inch closer to peace? I’d like to propose an extremely difficult task to those of us on the other side of hate.
We are all the same.
You are no different than your brother. Even the brother who has come to represent the worst of humanity. Yes, that brother may hate you because of your sexual preference, they may hate you because of your skin color, they may hate you because of the way you talk or walk or chew your gum, but at the end of the day that person is driven by the same things as you are. They are selfish, they are fearful, they are protective, they are proud, and mostly, they want what’s best for the people that they love. Its just for some reason, they have decided to let themselves get pushed to the wrong things in order to fulfill their need for safety, confidence, pride, and well being.They have become lost, and it is not the responsibility of those lost (all though it should be, and we feel as such) to recognize that they have taken a wrong turn and ended up in the worst moral location in existence. Someone needs to point it out to them in a compassionate way so that they may come out of their ignorance. What fool is going to be turned after being ridiculed and hated for a thing they believe so heavily in? We need to be the ones to shepard them away from this path, and it cannot be done from a position of hate, anger, and disgust.
Foregiveness
Now I know this sounds all well and good, but I’m sure you are wondering how in the F one goes about trying to understand a racist or homophobe or a terrorist, and I would like to give you an answer. I have absolutely no idea of how to go about trying to understand a person like this. I don’t know how you can come to forgive a person like this when they don’t even see their actions as wrong, and I don’t even think I want you to. But I know that deep down they are just like us, scared, hopeful, loving, and passionate little beings that just want to survive and survive well with those whom they love and it is our duty, as the bigger people, to pull them out of their darkness.
An ounce of empathy, regardless of how undeserved, how unwanted, and how ignored it is, goes a long way.
“Love covers over a multitude of sins”, and what Peter is saying here may not be what you think. Its not that an ounce of their love expressed to you covers the sins that they have committed, it is an ounce of love, ON EITHER SIDE.That is what can cover a multitude of sins. This proposition is an extremely tough one. How does one go about understanding and forgiving someone who stands for all that is wrong with this world. How can one show compassion to the person who is devoid of any redeeming qualities, who’s only pursuit is evil, and who so feverishly clings on to it and lives by it? There aren’t enough words to convince you and for you to see how powerful it is, but I think this video will open your eyes. Its sort of cheesy but the message is so extremely powerful.
So we see how the incredible power that this has one a soul, even one that is so detached from humanity that he was able to murder 48 women. A person that we would say is completely, purely, and totally insane. Even one of the most lost souls in history, was able to be stirred by this act of forgiveness which means that it can move others as well. So how do we go about doing this, how can we guide ourselves to act the same way that man did in the courtroom. How can we lead our hearts to a place where it is capable of this ultimate love and compassion?
A way to forgive
In his world renowned novel, The Alchemist, which has been translated into 80 plus languages, sold 65 million copies and been on The New York Times bestseller list for more than 315 weeks, give us a clue. In the forward of the 25th anniversary version of the book, Paulo Coehelo touches on a point that is universally and eternally fundamental for the future of mankind.
Aside from all of the incredible and deep truths that are dropped in this novel, Coehelo gives a piece of wisdom so simple and profound. It holds the key for giving our hearts the chance to forgive and move foreward. As he is talking about the journey of his book and what it means, he states
Though the Alchemist is now celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, it is no relic of the past. The book is still very much alive. Like my heart and like my soul, it continues to live every day, because my heart and soul are in it. And my heart and soul is your heart and soul. I am Santiago the shepherd boy in search of my treasure, just as you are Santiago the shepherd boy in search of your own. The story of one person is the story of everyone, and one man’s quest is the quest of all of humanity, which his why I believe The alchemist continues all these years later to resonate with people from different cultures all around the world, touching them emotionally and spiritually, equally, without prejudice.
I re-read The Alchemist regularly and every time I do I experience the same sensation I felt when I wrote it. And here is what I feel. I feel happiness, because it is all of me , and all of you simultaneously. I feel happiness, too, because I know I can never be alone. Wherever I go, people understand me. They understand my soul. This continues to give me hope. When I read about clashes around the world — political clashes, economic clashes, cultural clashes — I am reminded that it is within our power to build a bridge to be crossed. Even if my neighbor doesn’t understand my religion or understand my politics, he can understand my story. If he can understand my story, then he’s never too far from me. It is always within my power to build a bridge. There is always a chance for reconciliation, a chance that one day he and I will sit around a table together and put an end to our history of clashes. And on this day, he will tell me his story and I will tell him mine.
Wrestle with this idea please. I am in no way asking you to completely accept and support this, nor am I asking for blind compassion and the lack of justice, but at least wrestle with it. This was a very difficult post to write, as it hits home for me. I am just like you. I am conflicted by this idea of compassion and forgiveness for wicked people, but regardless, that is what is required to change those souls. Justice is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Changing a heart, though, must be approached in an entirely different way, and this is the only way a change of heart is made possible. Iron sharpens iron and hate sharpens hate, you cannot expect to for a blind man to see by telling him to open his eyes. A deaf man is not made able to hear after you yell at him to listen. A different route must be taken (maybe glasses or a hearing aid) and so regardless of how we feel, how terrible and cowardly this feels, and how weak it seems to do this, it is necessary.
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” — Mahatma Gandhi.
I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this, especially if you are against it, as I know that there are MANY people who probably are, possibly myself included. But regardless thank you for your time, and if you were challenged by this post or your spirit stirred, then I ask you to share it with someone who is close to you and have a thoughtful conversation about it. Blessings and see you next post!

